Twice this year, Clark has talked about a special combat pay provision for men and women who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last decade. With this special benefit, known as stop loss pay, the money either comes automatically or you must ask for it.

In the case of the latter, there are hundreds of thousands of troops who have never done the simple online application for the money. There is now a final hard deadline of March 4, 2011 to apply.

 Troops who were called on to serve their country in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001 are eligible for back pay of $500 for each month of involuntary service. The federal government is now actively contacting 145,000 troops to reward them for their bravery in the months and years following the worst terror attack ever of U.S. soil.

The back pay -- technically called Retroactive Stop Loss Special Pay (RSLSP) -- was approved by Congressional act in October 2009. Some 90,000 of the 145,000 who are eligible for RSLSP are believed to be Army veterans. The Washington Post reports that the remainder of those who are eligible are active-duty members split among the branches of the military. If the service member is no longer alive, the money will go to their beneficiaries.

The typical recipient of RSLSP receives $3,700, according to the government. Some eligibility exceptions do apply. For instance, soldiers who accepted re-enlistment bonuses are ineligible for RSLSP.

In order to claim the money, you must file an application at Defense.gov/StopLoss by March 4, 2011. You can also visit the site for service-specific contact info for Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Navy members. If the money goes unclaimed after Dec. 18, it's gone forever and can't later be sought by the brave men and women of our military.

Meanwhile, there's also a big problem with criminal rings stealing the identity of deployed troops who are overseas and don't know their identity has been swiped. If you are in our armed forces, there are special procedures that you can do to notify the bureaus when you are on active duty status. The FTC has compiled a helpful guide that details the process. In theory, once you've notified the bureaus about active duty status, creditors would know you were out of the country and shut down any applications if someone wrongfully tries to open a new line of credit in your name.